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[House  Bill,*  Xo.  5.] 


HOUSE  OF    REPRESENTATIVES, /October    13,   1862.  JRead 

first  and  second  times,  referred   to  Judiciary  Committee^and^ordered 
to  be  printed. 

[By  Mi^  Foster.] 


J±    JBILL 

To  be  entitled  An  Act  making  Confederate    Notes    a    legal 
lender  and  to  prevent  and  punish  extortion. 

1  Whereas,  owing  to    the    present  depreciation  of  the 

2  money  in  circulation,  occasioning,   as    a    natural    conse- 

3  quence,  an  enormous  price  for  every  article  of  consump- 

4  tion  within  the  limits  of  the  jConfederate  States,  and  the 

5  utter  inability  of  the  families  of  a  very  large  number  of 
G  our  gallant  troops  to  procure  the  commonest  necessaries 
7  of  life  ;   therefore, 

1  Sec.  1.    The   Congress   of  the   Confederate    States  of 

2  America  do  enact,  That  justice  and    good  policy  alike 

3  require  that  our  soldiers  be  paid  in  gold  and  silver  or 

4  their  equivalent,  and  for  this  purpose  it  is  hereby  de- 


2 

5  clared  that,  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  trr 

6  notes  of  the  Confederate  States  be,  and  they  are  hereby 

7  made  a  legal  tender. 

1  Sec.  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  any  person  or  per- 

2  sons  who  shall  refuse   to   receive  Confederate   notes  in 

0  payment  of  any  debt  or  debts,  claim  or  claims  to  which 
4  he  or  they  may  be  legally  entitled,  and  of  which  he  or 
6  they  shall  demand  payment,  or  who  shall  refuse  to  take 

6  such  notes  in    payment  for  all  or  any  article  or  articles 

7  he  or  they  may  offer  for  sale,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of 

8  extortion,  and,  on  conviction  thereof  before  any  court 
i)  of  competent  jurisdiction,  shall   suffer  imprisonment  in 

LO  the  county  jail  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  three  and 

11  not  exceeding  twelve  months,  and  be  fined  not  less  than 

12  fifty  and  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars. 

1  Sec.  3.  And  any  person  or  persons  known  to  have  for 

2  sale  any  article   or  articles   indispensably  necessary  for 

3  the  support  of  human  life,  and  who  shall   refuse  to  dis- 

4  pose  of  the  same  to  any  one,  either  soldier  or  citizen, 

5  for  Confederate  notes  shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  be 

6  liable  to  the  same  penalties  as  are  provided  for  in  the 

7  foregoing  section. 

CP./?. 


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